I have decided to go with the...

Sunday morning, after climbing the Giotto's Bell Tower (in Florence, Italy), I heard band music playing nearby. The band turned out to be the Rossa Italiana Corpa Militare Band. They were closing out the Calcio Storico event that took place a few days earlier in the week. After watching the band play for a few minutes, it started to march. Everyone followed the band. It was really alot of fun. The band marched around the block from the Piazza della Repubblica towards the Duomo and then back to the Piazza della Repubblica.

Somehow, I ended right up in the front and was able to video the band marching. Here's a little video clip I took. Towards the end, check out the cute kid and his mother's expression as she realized that I was taking video of him marching along with the band.

A peek inside the church:

View of the church:

Cloister outside of the church:

Wednesday, July 15th:
The skies were gray Wednesday morning. Not long after I woke up, it began to rain. I had two full days left in Stresa and both Santa Caterina del Sasso & Orta were on my list as places I definitely wanted to visit. Santa Caterina del Sasso, a monastery that was built in the 12th century on a rocky hillside, looked like the better choice for a cloudy/rainy day. After breakfast, the rain stopped for a bit. I took the 9:55 am boat (5.80 euros roundtrip) to Santa Caterina. For the history of this amazing monastery, check out Dana's blog post.

*Answer revealed at the end of this post...

No, this is not related to the Mystery Date game (for those old enough to remember).

I chose the title mystery door because I wanted to see if anyone can guess where this door in Florence is located. This is the same door (different shot) as the second photo in my last post - "tied"~ PhotoHunt.

I cropped the second photo from my last post so you can see the detail a little better.

And if anyone knows more about the history of this door, I am curious about the story of the one panel on the door that is carved like a flower. I tried googling this door but came up empty.

Woo Hoo!!! Sandra guessed the mystery door location!! :)

This was going to be my next clue...

These flags fly over this door.

The mystery door is...

the *other door* of the Palazzo Vecchio.

Can you spot the door in this photo of the Palazzo Vecchio?

I've decided to stretch the theme a little this week. Many years ago, horses and perhaps mules were tied to these...

(photo taken in Bologna)

(photo taken in Florence)

(photo taken in Lonato)

Tuesday, July 14th:
The weather was overcast when I woke up Tuesday morning. I hung out at my hotel for a while and had a late breakfast. When it started to clear a bit midmorning, I decided to go to the top of Mt. Mottorone.

The walk along the waterfront was very enjoyable. I checked out the 5 star hotels along the way and took lots of photos as I headed to the spot where the cable car to Mt. Mottorone was located. At one point, I became a little lost trying to reach the cable car station, something that really shouldn't have happened, but I easily get lost coming out of a store in the mall. The combo of taking photos and getting lost as well as the late start put me at the cable car ticket office right before the last ride up before their lunch break.

I bought my ticket (17.50 euros to the top) and got on the cable car along with what seemed like a class full of German and French preschoolers! It was an interesting ride up. At the midway stop (800 m altitude) everyone gets off. A second cable car continues on to the top (1491 m altitude). I had two choices, hanging out at the midway stop and checking out the alpine garden or continuing on up to the top. Because this was the last car going up until lunch was over for the cable car workers, I needed to make a decision and fast. Visibility was still good at the midway point. I decided to continue to the top. So did the gang of preschoolers.

As we continued towards the top, it started to get a bit fogged in but I tried to stay positive. There still was one tiny spot that was clear.

When we reached the top, I walked outside and was met with this view...

There really was not much to do up at the top...

I had 10 minutes to decide whether to stay at the top or head back down to the midway point, taking the last cable car back down before the lunch break began. My original plan was to hang out and eat lunch at the top (I packed a yogurt and some fruit) but since it was completely fogged in at the top and I saw pretty much all I was going to see, I jumped back in the cable car and rode back down to the midway point. This time I was alone (except for the cute cable car guy).

I knew from reading about Mt. Mottorone, that there was an alpine wildflower garden called the Botanic Garden Alpinia at the midway point. The walk to the Botanic Garden Alpinia was longer than I thought it would be. I enjoyed the walk as it was nice and cool, but I was a little concerned that once again I might be lost as the directions were not very clear. Along the way, I checked out the trees with these cool hanging flowers.

This week's PhotoHunt theme is FREE WEEK share any pix you'd like. Since I have been talking about my time in Stresa, Italy in my last few posts, I decided to share some photos I took early one evening while in Stresa down by the water.

Being a HUGE Red Sox fan, of course the first thing that came to my mind was Red Sox photos. I have not been to a game since July 2003. The first photo was taken outside one of the entrance gates into Fenway Park. The next two are of the same game before and after the sun went down. I took these photos with my first ever digital camera so they are not the best of photos but they bring back great memories.

Below is a YouTube clip of Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" which is being sung at Fenway Park before the bottom of the 8th inning, a tradition at every home game.

I did not take this video but wanted to include it hoping that it will help bring the Sox some luck. The Sox are down two games to the Angels right now. We have been here before. I am not giving up.

I still believe and will love my Red Sox forever win or lose.

GO SOX!!!!

Last but not least, the flower that captivated me... the Nelumbo Nucifera. I had no idea what type of flower this was and the sign (Nelumbo Nucifera) did not help any. The knowledgeble British couple (who travel the world to see flowers) did not know what kind of flower this was either. When I got home, I was very surprised to find out after googling Nelumbo Nucifera that is is the Lotus flower. How did I not know what a lotus flower looked like?

So here you go... my photos of the magnificent lotus flower:

There were so many beautiful flowers in the gardens of Villa Taranto. Here are a few of my favorites:

Dahlias

Monday, July 13th:

I can't believe it is October and I have yet to finish up blogging about my summer trip to Italy. The way things are going, I hope to finish by Thanksgiving or perhaps even Christmas!

Continuing with my stay in Stresa:

I awoke early Monday morning enjoying this beautiful view out my window. What a wonderful way to start the day.

My plan was to visit Villa Taranto. After puttering around my hotel for a while and enjoying another wonderful breakfast, I walked down to the imbarcadero and bought a boat ticket to Villa Taranto (€ 10.80).

Being a fan of boats, I loved that it took about 45 minutes to get there. The boat pretty much emptied out after making stops at Isola Bella, Isola Pescatori, and Baveno. I think there was only one or two other couples and myself left on the boat at this point.

After leaving Baveno, we headed past Isola Madre, the only one of the three islands that I did not visit during my stay in Stresa. This was one of my favorite photos of Isola Madre.

Next, we headed towards Verbania. As I understand it, Pallanza and Intra both neighborhoods of the the city of Verbania. Villa Taranto is located between these two places. The boat stops in all three places.

I would have loved to have stopped in Pallanza but did not have enough time. Here are a few photos I took as we rode by.

The next stop was the amazing Villa Taranto. I had no idea just how much I would love my visit to these beautiful gardens.

Words chiseled in stone (Capitoline Museums in Rome)

Words created by mosaics (Neonian Baptistery in Ravenna)

(close up)

Words typed (part of the script of Psycho ~ Cinema Museum in Torino)

(cropped photo/close up of the script)

Words written in chalk (street in Stresa)

I can't stay silent anymore.

Take a look at just where the US stands according to the World Health Organizations's ranking of the world's health systems.

Meanwhile, health care costs keep rising every year. Do we really want to keep things as they are?

And do we really care more about making sure private insurance companies continue to make billions of dollars while excluding anyone who costs too much to insure?

...or are we going to get serious about demanding a public health option?

A public health option will provide us with a choice and it will provide medical coverage for those with pre-existing conditions. It will bring costs down. With the competition it will provide, it will encourage private plans to do better. No one will be forced into the public health option. It will just be that.. an option.

Every American has a fundamental right to have decent, quality health care. Sign this petition. Call your congressmen. Demand a public health option before it is too late.